A Sydney judge said the NSW Police Force defended a way that claimed it illegally stripped a woman (including last-minute entrance) at the festival by “my serious concern”.

Justice Dina Yeshia commented in the Supreme Court of New South Wales as he concluded the debate in a class action lawsuit against police.

The vast majority of strip searches conducted at festivals between 2018 and 2022 are illegal.

However, NSW police did admit in court documents before the hearing began that at the 2018 Music Festival, Raya Meredith, the chief plaintiff, was illegally stripped of Raya Meredith before the hearing began.

Meredith is the chief plaintiff of 3,000 people searched by police. A poisoned dog smelled in her direction and then moved on as she performed a striptease at the 2018 Grass Festival.

The class action lawsuit is led by attorneys Slater and Gordon and the Redfern Law Center.

Julian Sexton SC, representing the NSW Police representative, said on Thursday that plaintiffs called for aggravated damages due to the manner of troops during the lawsuit.

He believes that the increased compensation cannot be ruled as no recoupon was recalled Meredith provided evidence of her opinion on the actions of the NSW police in the class action lawsuit.

Yehia said in response, she was "more worried" that the police had made three iterations of defense shortly before the lawsuit began, admitting it did illegally strip Meredith.

"It's a problem, I'm very honest with you, and it's a serious concern for me," Yehia said Thursday.

The judge said she was concerned that the police defense suggested that the police have formed reasonable doubts about "such as her behavior, what she said outside the tent," based on "her behavior, what she said outside the tent, (the officer) recalled what she said outside the tent, not inside."

Yehia told Sexton: “Unless you can take me there, there is absolutely no evidence.”

"All I have is the statement of the officers, saying that they either don't remember the search, or neither, nor the plaintiff. In this case, I'm not sure how this was done in the way the original complaint was conducted."

In the days after the hearing, NSW withdrew 22 witnesses, mainly police officers competing for Meredith's version of the activity. This change reduced the case from the planned 2- to 3-day period.

Sexton believes that in this case, the defense is based on the police’s “practice”, adding that it is “not (based on) a unique memory of someone.”

Yehia said police advised that since Meredith's appearance and body language were "specific matters related to this kind of plaintiff, there was a "reasonable reason" for searching, in which case (the female officer searching for her) not only did not remember it, but to my knowledge, there was no even a notebook entry into the interaction".

The debate is expected to end before Yehia on Thursday.